By Cyote Williams | Times Vedette
I was checking the most recent volleyball rankings posted by the IGHSAU earlier this week, mainly because I had a feeling the 13-4 ACGC team would have a chance to sneak into the top 15 soon. Then, I noticed something odd. It’s something I’ve seen before, but this one was too big to be ignored.
In 2A, at the top of the rankings, No. 1 Denver is 29-0. That’s impressive. The No. 2 team? Hinton, at 9-0. That’s a difference of 20 games. By this time of year, most teams have played 20-30 games. Then you have No. 13 Emmetsburg at 10-3. That’s closer to ACGC’s 17 games played. Why is there such a large gap between the number of games played between teams?
Looking here at home, Panorama’s schedule has also been on the lighter side, only playing 10 games thus far. Granted, the Panthers will play three more this week and have a tournament scheduled next week — but that’s still a big gap. In the metro area, Des Moines North has only played four games this season. Sure, they have six tournaments scheduled between now and the end of the season, but four games?
According to the IGHSAU website, “Teams may play 14 dates at each level of play (ninth grade, junior varsity, varsity). No junior varsity teams are allowed in varsity tournaments. No jamborees allowed. A maximum of six matches per team per day.”
I take that to mean there is a maximum number of games a team can play but not a minimum. I asked Panorama AD Bruce Dahlhauser, and he said that there is no minimum number of games a team must play and that teams can schedule as few games as they wish. On the flip side, if a team scheduled 14 tournament dates and played six games at each, that school could play 84 games in a season not counting the postseason. This also does not count the three scrimmages that are allowed each season.
Now, of course, that many games would be ridiculous, just as it would be ridiculous to play zero games in a season. But, it begs the question of which direction is better. Play more games and potentially gain more experience but risk the chance of wearing down and picking up injuries? Or play fewer games and stay fresh for the post season?
I decided to check out how many games each of the state championship teams in Iowa played last season to get an idea.
- 1A: Ankeny Christian (40-5) 50 games
- 2A: Denver (47-3) 50 games
- 3A: Mount Vernon (45-4) 49 games
- 4A: Bishop Heelan (44-3) 47 games
- 5A: Pleasant Valley (35-2) 37 games
Even at the state championship level, there was a difference of 10 games played. Making a deep playoff run would lend itself to more games played, and that appears to be what the coaches prefer. I simply found it interesting and thought you might, too. Let’s all hope ACGC and Panorama hit those numbers this season as well.
Reach out with comments, complaints or story ideas to cyote@dmcityview.com.